Hello, it’s Antoine, creator of the website whitenoisegeek.com and as you can probably imagine, I listen to a lot of white noise. Not because I have tinnitus but really because I like it. Whether it’s to work, sleep or relax: I use it every day.
Here I’ll tell you my story, from the dryer to the applications, it all started when my mother turned on the vacuum cleaner when I was a baby.
Why do I listen to white noise since I was a baby?
I suffered from insomnia during my elementary and middle school years. Always worrying about what time I was going to fall asleep, even going to bed early… nothing to do.
Until I discovered white noise around high school, which now allows me to fall asleep every night without any problem.
I’ve been using white noise for quite some time now. In fact, whenever I feel like I’m not going to be able to fall asleep or I need to concentrate, I always have a little noise on hand.
What I like to do right now is to sit in the kitchen and work. Why? Simply because the room where the dryer is located is right next door.
And yes I love the sound of the dryer in the background, it makes it easier for me to concentrate. (Which I am doing as I write this article).
It took me a while to figure out that the reason I love the sound of the dryer is because it literally works as white noise by cutting me off from outside sounds.
What you need to know is that in my crib, my mom used to turn on the vacuum cleaner next to me so I could take my naps. And even though it was a long time ago, even today when I hear the sound of the vacuum cleaner I feel an intense sense of relaxation.
A few years later and as I got older I found myself spending my time squatting in the laundry room with the dryer.
I had really found the winning combo: the heat, the smell of clean laundry, and my gameboy. A real cocoon where I felt safe away from the stress of school.
I even brought my comforter and pillow to sleep next to it. A little technique to go right after the shower. What a great feeling to be a little cold and warm against the dryer.
But it doesn’t stop there. In the morning before going to school, it was impossible to get up if my mother had not prepared a washing machine the day before to dry it in the morning. Having breakfast in the dryer is a joy!
This habit I have pushed very far since even in high school I was revising on the dryer before going to class. In fact, I often got up early on purpose to sleep in the dryer for a few minutes.
And if you’re wondering if I’m still squatting on the dryer at my parents’ house, I’m not. I just have a bunch of youtube sounds bookmarked on my laptop and a few apps that I use with or without headphones at night. I can take my dryer everywhere with me, it’s magic.
Conclusion
Now that I’m an older man I won’t go as far as to say that it’s impossible for me to sleep without white noise but there’s no doubt that I fall asleep faster with it.
People think I’m weird when I tell them that I love the sound of my dryer and that the sound of the vacuum cleaner doesn’t bother me that much. However, by browsing the internet and typing in “white noise vacuum cleaner” I quickly realized that I was not the only one who likes this kind of noise to relax.
By sharing my own experience with you I hope you will feel alone if relaxing noises are your little “sin mignon”.
And if you are a mom who wants to know if white noise vacuuming works to put kids and babies to sleep, I think you have the answer because my mom used to do it 25 years ago.
Besides, you should know that white noise can have many other uses and I wrote an article about it!
I invite you to discover it by clicking on the link below